America’s Cup fundraising lags behind city costs

Will San Francisco taxpayers have to foot the bill to host the America’s Cup?

That’s still a possibility since the group responsible for fundraising to offset city costs has missed key benchmarks and has yet to fully pay off some of the city’s bills.

Members of the fundraising committee are convinced that once the races are completed, and tourists who flocked to view sailing’s premier regatta are gone, the city treasury will be made whole, but they’re counting on part of that money coming from tax revenue generated by the event.

The group, the America’s Cup Organizing Committee, is now supposed to raise about $22 million — down from an original $32 million — to defray the costs of things like permits, and increased police and Muni service. But it still owes the city about $800,000 on $1.6 million in costs from December. At the end of the month the group will receive another bill of about $3 million to $4 million for things like liability insurance, putting up railings around the perimeters of piers and signs to help cyclists and pedestrians find their way to the action.

Just how much as the committee raised so far? Read more here about that effort and the obstacles they’ve encountered.